Am I a Prepper?

 Honestly, I don't know.  I don't consider myself a "prepper" in the sense that the media has defined a prepper.  I gather from the media (social media, tv shows, internet, blogs, etc.) that most people describe a prepper to be someone who prepares for invasion of their property and end of the world times.  This is SO NOT why I prep!

I like to be prepared.  We have a well stocked pantry and freezer.  We have emergency supplies for when the lights go out and are out for a while (like days), and we carry emergency kits in our cars.  Am I a prepper? Probably not.  Do we have similar supplies? Yes. Can I feed my family for several months without going to the grocery store? Yes.  Do I think the world is coming to an end? I certainly hope not!

As I have said in past posts, we have "planned emergencies".  These really aren't emergencies but they are times where we rely on our food storage to get us through a lean time in our year.   We also hate to have an appliance break or some household item break and us no be able to replace it.  We keep an emergency fund for those times.  We USE that emergency fund several times a year.  When it gets used, we immediately start saving it again.  I stock up on band-aids, cough and cold meds, and other minor medical needs.  I keep well stocked on toiletries, such as tooth brushes, soaps, shampoos, deodorant, and the like.  

I have long term storage too.  Wheat berries, ground flour, some long term freeze dried foods, dried milk, etc.  When I buy ground flour, sugar or coffee, I buy in bulk 25 to 50 lbs at a time.

So, am I a prepper? I don't think so.  I think I am just "prepared".  I am prepared for weather emergencies.  I am prepared for black out emergencies.  I am prepared for times when we need to rely on our food storage to get us through a tough spell.  

Stocking Up For Winter

 Like squirrels and nuts, this family stores away food in the fall for the winter.  I am sure I have talked about this before in previous posts but here is the long and short of the why we do this.  My husband and I own a lawn care business.  Well, he does; I just help out when and where I can.  Winter is a down time in the business.  Grass doesn't grow around here in the winter.  However, in the fall, we have two of our most profitable seasons, aeration season and leaf season.  So we are more fluid right now.  Because of this, we like to stock up on provisions for the winter season now. 

I have pretty much just finished stocking up.  I am proud to say I have about a three month supply of most food groups.  I have also added to my  longer term food storage. I also have at least a three month supply of all hygiene products that we use, as well as household cleaning supplies.  I will continue to increase my food storage and other supplies through December.

My logic on this:  Each year we have a "planned emergency".  This is the time from January through March, but really it lasts to the beginning of May. I have always been a "prepper" and it has proved essential to us time and time again!  So when I realized that we were tending to need to use our food storage during our off season, we chose to think about this in our preps. One fall, many years ago, my husband did a big job and handed me a bunch of cash (I think it was like $500) and he said, "Go out and get everything we need for food for the next month and include all the stuff for Thanksgiving."  I spend the next couple days making an enormous list.  I scoured the ads from the local grocery stores and made a plan of attack. That year I was not only able to get enough groceries for that next month and for Thanksgiving, but also was able to put away enough meat for us for another couple weeks too.  From that point on, we made a point to start squirreling away food and supplies in the fall. 

This is what my list structure looks like:

1.  Menu planning:  My first step is to sit down and think of all the meals we love to eat in the winter.  This includes, chili, soups, chicken and potatoes, spaghetti, tacos, pork chops, meatloaf, etc. I stretch this out and create a 25 day meal plan.  Some meals we will eat more than once in that 25 day period. I also figure we will eat out 5 days in the month for dinners and more often for lunches.  I do this meal plan for breakfasts (which often look like "breakfast bars, poptarts, frozen sausage biscuits, pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, omelets) and for lunches (which include a lot of planned leftovers, frozen entrees, ramen noodles, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches). I also make a list of grab and go snacks (microwave popcorn, chex mix, chocolate, peanut butter cracker packs, pretzels, nuts, cheese, etc). For the record, this is super hard for me because we eat pretty healthy and I don't have a lot of processed foods in our house. Stocking up on fresh foods is not in the plan, but I try to switch fresh for frozen.  I also do have three on-the-go teenagers/20-somethings who have classes and jobs still living in the house. {sigh} Meal planning is the hardest part.  My 25 day meal plan is for a month.  If I am wanting a 3 month supply of food then I might add a few more meals and multiply the number of meals by 3.  I will also include any holiday meals or birthday meals that might occur. Oh and think about a few desserts.

2.  Meal breakdown:  My next step is to break down each meal into the ingredients and amounts I need for each meal.   I also include spices and seasonings, too. 

3.  List making: I make a master list of all the ingredients from the meal breakdown step. I add all the same items up.  For example, if I am using  a pound of ground beef for each meatloaf I make and I am making it twice in the month then I need 2 lbs.  If I use a pound of ground beef for tacos and a pound for chili, then my total for the month is 4 lbs. Then I further this list to creating lists for each grocery store.  Some stores have specific products my family likes.  I also use the ads from each store, checking for sales.  If there is a sale on a certain product, I will include the sale price next to the item. This will come in handy when shopping.  

4. Checking inventory: Before heading out, I add anything else that we are getting low on.  Think about spices, seasoning packets, flour, sugars, coffees, other drinks.  This is the time when I go through my pantry and clean out expired, unwanted items, dust the shelves.  I pack up the unwanted items and send them on to the food bank. I sort and organize the drawers and cabinets in the bathrooms, and organize the cleaning closet. I add any additional items we are getting low on to the grocery lists.  While doing this, begin an additional list of little chores that need to be done.  These chores could include changing out the batteries in the wall clocks and smoke detectors, replacing burned out lightbulbs, swapping out baking soda boxes in the refrigerators, etc. 

Once the lists are made I head out.  I will shop one store a day. This gives me time to shop and not be in a big rush and come home and put everything away. While I am in a store if I see an item on sale and I have it on another store's list, I will compare the price at the other store with the sale price and then buy the better deal.  I keep all the lists with me so I can mark off any item found at a different store.  Remember when I said to put the sale price next to the item on your list?  This is where it might come in handy.  You can compare the sales. 

Things to remember when stocking up like this:

1. A place for everything.  You need to have a planned place for everything you buy.  I have a separate set of cabinets in my basement for our food storage.  This helps because for us, it is not up in my working pantry.  Out of sight, out of mind. Over the years we have acquired three refrigerator/freezers, one full size stand up refrigerator, one stand up full size freezer, and one chest freezer. We don't use all of them all year long but in this case, these will end up all pretty full.

2. What you bring home, family members will think it is all free rein.  It is best to remind family members that this extra food is not free for the eating.  This is for later.

3. Lots of items can be frozen.  Some items are better fresh.  For example, you can freeze milk but it separates and doesn't always come back together like it was fresh when thawed. However, butter freezes just fine.  In our "planned emergency" time, I still have a small budget for fresh items.  I buy those when needed not during this stocking up time. I focus on the meats, veggies, spices, seasonings, dry goods, bathroom supplies, cleaning supplies. However, if you are stocking up for winter or a time when you know you won't be able to get to the grocery store (like a big snow storm) I would consider adding shelf stable milk or powdered milk (blahhk).  Fresh eggs might be hard but you can include "Egg Beaters" to your freezer. Most cheeses will freeze just fine and so do yogurts.

Why would I want to do this?

Great question.  I do it because I know we have a poor time and I can alleviate some expense now with food storage. If you have a time where you know it will be difficult to get out then this might be a good method.  Perhaps you have a planned surgery coming up. Perhaps you know that each year you get snowed in for a period of time. Maybe you are having a baby.  Or more timely, maybe you may have to quarantine for a few weeks due to the pandemic. These are great reasons to stock up. My sister stocks up each month for the last week of the month when she and her husband are too busy with work and deadlines to shop. All these are "planned emergencies". 

What is different from this type of stocking up and stocking regular emergency food storage? 

Another great question.  For the most part it is not really that different other than the fact that you know you will be using your food storage.  I have our regular food storage and because I know I will be using our storage each winter, I stock extra so at the end of the winter I am not left with nothing in my food storage.  So this is a little extra because I know I am going to be using it. Do I then have double? Not really,  more like 1 1/2 times the normal amount. I continue to grab items when I see them on sale and put them in my food storage, but this is extra.  This also is funded by extra money, not my regular storage budget. 

Can't I just use what I have in food storage for my "planned emergency" without stocking up?

Yes, you can.  But a planned emergency isn't a REAL emergency.  Plus our additional income allows me to beef up our storage during this season.  If you use your emergency food storage during your planned emergency, you will just need to understand that your emergency storage will be depleted by the time you come out of your planned emergency time.  You will have to work to restock it quickly.  With this method, I am "restocking" ahead of time. Because I know it is coming, I can plan. 

What sorts of things do you forget?

I don't know....ha ha ha.... Honestly, Ziploc bags, aluminum foil, trash bags, dishwasher detergent, wine.  It is the little things.   But those little things are sorely missed when gone. 

Eating at Home - Meal Kit Delivery

****added note: In the wake of our country currently "social distancing" because of the Coronavirus spread, I am posting this post that I wrote for my other blog (Whitney's Cooking). I thought that it might be helpful for us "Prepared Moms" who might be finding themselves a bit overwhelmed by needing to cook, grocery shop while staying socially distant, and try to keep fresh, wholesome meals on the table during this crisis.****



If you have read some of my other posts you already know by now, we just moved. We moved 4 miles away from our previous house into a wonderful new (to us) home.  More bedrooms, more space, more land!

Because moving is hard and EXPENSIVE we have been eating more at home.

Let me back up a bit.  Over the past several years since the meal kits have come on the market, I have been interested in trying them but every time I go to sign up, my budget minded brain says, "you can make this same meal cheaper than they can deliver the food to you", and I don't bite.

About a month ago, I was sitting in the car waiting for my son to join me for an impromptu lunch.  I had been packing all morning and was looking forward to our lunch together, just me and him.  While waiting, I was scrolling social media on my phone and yet another meal kit delivery program popped up on my feed.  For some reason, I clicked.  And for some reason, it finally clicked in my brain that it was actually more budget-friendly than I thought. Why did my thought process change? I think it had a lot to do with me being tired of eating out all the time.  I was tired of the same end of the day conversation we have. "what's for dinner?", "I don't know what do you want?", "I don't know, what do you want?", "I have chicken.", "I don't want chicken.", "It's late. By the time we fix dinner it will be even later. Let's just go out and eat.", "Kids! Put your shoes on. We are going out to eat!" And we go out.  Not to a fast food restaurant usually but to a sit down restaurant.

So here is my normal weekly money routine for food: (Family of 5, 1 in college and home on weekends, 2 in upper teens - hit or miss if they are home for dinner)

Grocery store: $200 - I end up throwing at least a third of the food away eventually because we don't eat it.
Restaurants: Breakfasts $30 (one to two times a week)
                     Lunches $100 ($25 to 30 each time we go and sometimes that is 4 to 5 times a week)
                     Dinners $350 (3 to 4 times a week and usually $75 to $100 each time)
Total:  $680 a week!!!

We also go out to eat a lot because my kids are sick of what we fix when we are in a hurry.  We have gotten into a rut and have been eating the same things over and over again.

You know (from my past posts) that we have meal planned and that works for a little while but we end up in the same boat over time, fixing the same meals.

So, that day, sitting in the parking lot, all this information running through my head, I clicked the meal kit ad.  Suddenly, it all made sense to me.

This meal kit gives me 3 meals a week for 4 people.  I spend about $75 including the shipping price a week.  I pick the meals which rotates so I can't pick the same ones over and over again week in and week out. This kit is based on whole foods.  If you have mashed potatoes on the menu, you start with whole potatoes then mash them. Nothing is prepackaged.  It is all fresh ingredients. All meals take less than an hour from pulling out the recipe card to putting it on the table.  This includes finding all the ingredients in the box, washing all the veggies, cutting everything up, cooking or baking, and then plating. Best of all I don't get half way through a recipe and realize I don't have an ingredient I need. Even more fun, we all have LOVED every single meal we have cooked!!

So for my budget I went from $680 a week to:

Meal kit program: $75
Grocery store: $150
Restaurants: $150 (fast food lunches are reduced because we usually have left overs, we still eat or take out once or twice a week)
New Total: $375 That is a savings of $305 a week!!!

Wow!!! We use Every Plate right now as our meal kit program.  It has an app that you can use on your phone to choose your meals.  I am not giving you a special link because I don't want you to think I am seeking out affiliate credits.  I am not.  I am just giving you information that I have learned.

Where have I been???

Where have I been, you ask?  Well, I will tell you!

I have been right here.  My husband lovingly convinced me to buy an embroidery machine the end of October and it arrived mid November.  Since then I have been embroidering away.  One of the main reasons for purchasing a several thousand dollar embroidery machine was that we would start a "little" business with it.  I immediately began making and selling embroidered towels.  I sell them on etsy.com and in a local storefront. For a start up business we have been busy.

Here are a few of our towels:

You can purchase them here: www.etsy.com/shop/wcsears

You can like my facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/byathreadembroidery/

Stocking Up on a Budget - How to Prepare When You Have no Money.

I recently had a friend on Facebook post that they were expecting a hurricane this weekend in her
area but she unfortunately had no money to prepare for it. It got me thinking about how to prep on a very tight budget.

We all from time to time find ourselves a bit "skint".  This doesn't mean that you can't be prepared.  I have given this a lot of thought and thought I would put my thoughts out here.

1.  Know your dangers!  By knowing what dangers you might have to endure in your area then you can best prepare for it.  I am not a prepper that preps for end of the world type events.  A major catastrophe is definitely in the back of my mind but I find that it is the more "everyday" events that I come across and need to be prepared for.  So first, know your area and the dangers you might have.  If you are in tornado alley, then prep for tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, etc.  If you are in an earthquake zone, then prep for those and the damage that comes with those.  If you live in an area with potential hurricanes then those are what you need to prep for.  Know what your potential disaster will entail. I live in a hurricane zone.  I prep for severe storms, hurricanes, flooding, lack of electricity for possibly weeks (we live in the country and will be one of the last to get power restored if out), etc.  By knowing your dangers you will then be able to also determine the supplies you will need.

2.  Plan to shelter in place.  With little or no money, plan to shelter in place for as long as you can.  If you have to leave your home, then plan to be in an emergency shelter.  That will be your cheapest alternative to staying at home.  Prior to a potential emergency call your local emergency agency.  Ask lots of questions so you are prepared. Know what your shelter will provide you.  Most provide a cot or bed, some provide one or two meals a day.  Some allow you to stay all day long while others require you to leave during the day and return in the evenings.  Ask about safety, privacy, pet policy, etc.  Ask what items you will need to bring and what items they will provide (think toiletries, towels, linens for beds/cots, pillows, etc) 

3. Think of the basics. Because you will be planning to shelter at home, think about the basics you will need.  Water, Food, Alternative Cooking Methods, Alternative Lighting, Alternative Heating, etc.

Let's spend a minute talking about each of these.
Water: Many think that they will need water bottles.  But for weather related emergencies we often have a few minutes/days to prepare.  You don't need to run out and spend your little bit of money on water bottles.  Just fill pots, containers, insulated water bottles, ziploc bags, and your bathtub with water.  You can fill ziploc bags with water and then put it in the freezer and freeze it.  They will keep your frozen foods cold longer and then take the ziploc bags out when you need it and they will melt down to water.  I remember reading about someone before Hurricane Katrina who filled bowls, cups, pots, everything that would hold water prior to the storm. She was glad she did!  Fill your tub with water.  You can use it for washing and flushing your toilet. Water is pretty much free if you use the water coming out of your tap and fill your own containers.

Food: Most everyone has enough food for 3 days in their house that they can eat.  You may not like or want it but you have it already. Don't panic on food. However, again if you have a bit of time to prepare then you can make some better choices on the food that you will buy for your family that week.  Think about foods that you will not have to cook (if your stove is electric).  Sandwiches, vegetables, fruits, cereals, etc.

Alternative cooking methods: This can be your outside grill, a camp stove, or even a grate over an open flame.

Alternative Lighting:  During the day you can open your window shades and use natural lighting but at night you will need some alternative lighting source.  This could be flashlights, lanterns, oil lamps, candles.

Alternative Heating: If there is a possibility of no heat and it is cold outside you will need to figure out alternative heating. This could be your fireplace, lots of blankets, a kerosene heater, etc.

And then you need an emergency "bug out bag" just in case you will need to leave and go to a shelter.   This doesn't have to be a "backpack". You can use whatever bag you have, even a garbage bag.  Most people have something they can throw some things in

So far we have spent no money.  At this point we have just talked about what you probably have inside your home right now. It is just a matter of looking at what you have and being ready for the emergency.

4.  Plan ahead of time and over time.  This is the most important!!!  If you are like me, money comes and goes.  Sometimes I have a little extra and sometimes I don't have any extra money.  The key to all this is planning ahead of time.  We know we will have the potential of a weather related emergency so we plan ahead of time for it.  This way, when the weather man reports a hurricane or a snow storm or other severe weather there is little I need to do to prepare for it.  I am already prepared.  I don't need to worry about expenses of prepping at that time.  It is already done.

Each time I go to the grocery store, I make sure that I replace any prepping items we many have recently used.  If I don't need to replace anything then I try to budget a little bit of money to add to our supplies.  For us, batteries, are one of our most often used items as well as one of our most expensive prepping item. If I have an extra $10 I will buy a pack of batteries. 

If you are serious about prepping add in a line item into your monthly budget for stocking up. In the meantime here are some ideas on how to stock up ahead of time with little money.

1. Budget: Take a few dollars a month and use that to stock up.  Even the hard core preppers had to start somewhere and most of these didn't start with a lot of money to purchase supplies.  Like everything good, it takes time.  Sometimes years. 

2.  Health Fairs/Business Fairs/Etc.  I love going to these things, because the businesses there often have free things for you.  Bring a bag to put in the free stuff and collect away.  I particularly like small packs of bandaids, hand sanitizers, first aid kits, water bottles, zipper bags, sunscreen, toothbrushes, toothpaste, dental floss, etc.  These are perfect for your bug out bags!  Some even give away drawstring backpacks!!  Those are great for your bug out bag.  I like to put one of those in my car with emergency supplies.  If my car breaks down, I have a backpack now to put on to walk for help. 

3.  Cheap groceries.  Use your coupons to help stock up on long expiration date food items.  Canned foods are great as most of the time they have a year or 2 year expiration date.  Ramen, rice, pasta are awesome, cheap items to have in your stock of food. Add one or two items each trip to the grocery store you make.  It might be an extra buck or five to your budget but it is easier to do this a little bit at a time than to buy a full stock of food all at once. I have personally never bought freeze dried foods from an emergency supply company, but I have looked at them and they are quite expensive.  If this it the route you want to go then once you have a bit of food storage from the regular grocery then take the extra money you would have spent stocking up at the grocery and put it in an envelope and save until you have enough to buy a case of freeze dried food.  Buy a case at a time until you have a good stock of it.  The key here is to start with what you can and do what you can a little at a time.  Use coupons, shop sales, and look for items with long expiration dates on them.

4.  Free food items:  When you are out in a restaurant, the extra couple packages of condiments you may not use can be used in your emergency supplies.  I am not condoning stealing but sometimes they give you too many, and one or two extra condiment packs can help round out your bug out bag foods.  I am talking about salt packets, pepper, sugar, dry creamers, parmesan cheese packs, etc.   Don't throw these extras away.

5. Yard Sales:  I love going to yard sales and looking for emergency supplies.  You can find sleeping bags, lanterns, flashlights, oil lamps, camp stoves, and other items all at great yard sale prices.  Look for your higher ticket items here. 

6.  Craigslist/Ebay/Estate Sales/Auctions:  Other great places to look for more expensive items you might need.

7.  Dollar Store:  This is a great place for clean up supplies.  Bleach, cleaners, rubber gloves, buckets, rags are all great items to get at the Dollar Store.  Also think about getting a lighter, matches, and storage containers here too. You can buy batteries here but they tend to not last very long.  I prefer the more reliable brand name batteries.

8.  Goodwill/Thrift Stores:  This is a great place to find back packs and other supplies.

9. Take an Emergency Preparedness Course:  We have a free course locally, called CERT (Community Emergency Response Team).  They train you for all sorts of emergencies and how to help your neighbors in an emergency. At the end of the course, which is free, you get a free backpack filled with supplies and tools.

Again,  the key to an emergency is preparedness and most often we can prepare well ahead of time.  The key is to already be prepared when your emergency hits.  By planning ahead of time you don't have to worry so much about whether or not you have it in the budget this month to get prepared because you already are prepared.

Financial Preparedness

Recently we have been going through a bit of a financial strain.  Who am I kidding?  We seem to always be in a financial strain.  Ha ha ha.  But recently I have been thinking more and more about how to be more prepared financially. 

I hate the fear that lack of money gives me.  I feel safer when I seem to have some money in the bank.  I feel secure.  But the money never seems to last very long.  There always seems to be some sort of "thing" that comes up where we need to use our money.  A refrigerator dies and needs to be replaced. A child needs dental work to the tune of $1200. Something always seems to come up and we have to spend our little (and I mean little) nest egg.

Years ago we took a Dave Ramsey course and it was great.  It allowed us to see where our money was going and we learned how to reduce our debt.  We used this method for quite a while and we still go back to it from time to time.

Dave says to have 3 to 6 months in income in a savings account for emergencies.  He also says to have a budget for cars and car maintenance.  He says to put money aside each month and then when your car needs repair the money is there.  When your car needs new tires, the money is there.  This makes total sense to me. But {sigh} I never seem to be able to do it. Ramsey encourages us to use cash.  Put the cash in an envelope each month labeled for that specific category.

I remember my grandmother telling me a story years ago where she was using envelopes to put money in each month for different things: groceries, clothing, car maintenance, etc.  Her story goes on to tell how she didn't know what to do with the extra money each month that she didn't spend. That never happens to us.  I found that I had to steal money from another envelope to make up the difference in spending from another envelope. {sigh, again}. 

Having a cash system is hard.  In this day and age we don't use cash that much.  Everything is done online, through debit or credit card, or with electronic transfers.  I considered opening a host of bank accounts to settle out the "envelope" system but that didn't seem practical.  I tried a spreadsheet, half-heartedly I admit, but that seemed very tedious.  Lots of detail and saving receipts.  It didn't work, and I admit, I didn't give it much of a chance.

However, one thing that we have done over the years pretty successfully is to put a bit of cash in a jar.  We dip into it from time to time but it usually has a final purpose, like Christmas budget, or travel funds, etc.  It is nice to know that a bit of money is stashed away for something or for an emergency.  We usually have several hundred in there and sometimes it increases to a thousand!  My husband puts his change in there and any cash he has on hand. I do the same when my purse seems heavy with change and when I end up with a bit of cash.  It makes me feel good to contribute to our jar and it makes me feel safe.

Having a bit in an emergency fund is helpful for all those little emergencies.  Like that refrigerator or the dental work.  I am lucky because when those emergencies come up, while I hate to spend the money, we have it and don't have to get a loan or use a credit card to pay for it. Recently with the dental work, the account manager was going through the upcoming expenses and she said that I could apply for a short term loan through a financial company they use.  I could apply right then if I wanted and it only took 5 minutes.  {whew} Thankfully, I was able to decline because I knew we could pay cash for it.  When it came to paying for my daughter's invisilign braces, we were able to take advantage of a cash discount if we paid for the whole thing up front.  It took all our "emergency" money but I was able to save about $500 by paying up front.  Now we are paying "payments" back to our emergency fund instead of paying a high interest loan payments to financial company for the loan for her braces.

How do you get started? 

There are a couple ways to begin.  One thing is to start a list of things that you might need money for in the next year.  Think about appliance replacements, repairs, travel money, etc.  Then start to budget for that expense in your monthly budget.  Divide your total by 12 and add that amount each month.  Watch out and be prepared because that number can be quite large.

For us we can't always make that amount each month to put away.  For us, we just start adding whatever we can to our savings account.  We try not to dip into it each month and I like to see the money start to add up.  Even if it is just $20 a month that you can stick in a jar in your closet.  At the end of the year you will have $240!  Some months you may have an extra $10. Add that too. 

What if your budget is so tight that you can't seem to part with any money to save?

Start by adding all "found" money.  That penny on the sidewalk, the surprise $5 you found in your jacket pocket, change back from ordering a soda.  Then look at what you might be able to take out of your budget.  Maybe take your lunch instead of eating out once a week.  That is an extra $5 a week ($20 a month).  Perhaps it is your birthday money you receive from relatives. Start an emergency fund with money you earn from a yard sale or by selling an item online. 

Other thoughts:

By having insurance on your home or rental insurance you are saving for an emergency also.  Having this insurance will help replace lost or stolen items in an emergency situation.  Your house floods, your insurance will kick in.  But make sure you understand what is covered and what is not covered.  Make sure your insurance covers your needs if a disaster happens.  Know what your deductible is and save that amount in a savings account so your insurance will kick in immediately when you need it.

Health insurance is also important for peace of mind.  Again, know your ins and outs of your plan and save the deductibles.

Think about life insurance too.  Term life policies can be very inexpensive and can be for all sorts of amounts.  Recently, a friend had the horrible experience of having to bury her teenage son. The cost of the funeral home and burial was very expensive and they didn't have that kind of money.  They had to take a loan out to get their son buried.  It was a very sad situation and one they had not expected nor planned for.  Not only were they mourning and grieving horribly but also at the same time had to deal with the payments to the funeral home and cemetery.

Reality:

In full disclosure, we don't currently have health insurance or life insurance.  This is something that we need to get taken care of soon and on my list of things to do.

We do have a small fund of cash in a jar and we are currently saving for Christmas and then for travel later in the year.  We put all found money in there and whenever we end up with cash.  Extras from the month will also go in there. When we need cash we tend to dip out of it and I hate that, but it happens. I always say I will take cash out of our bank account and replace it but in reality that rarely happens.

I write this post not only to help spark some ideas for you but also for me to get organized and help me get more prepared as well.

What creative ideas do you have to save money for emergencies?

Update on "no spend" month! - Harder than it seems.

I can't tell you how many times I think to myself, "oh, I need to get some __________". Then I remember, "oh yeah, I can't this month.  How many more days of this???" Ha!

The month started off rough.  The first couple days were hard.  I wanted to start new projects but didn't have what I needed.  So I had to remind myself that it would have to wait. Now thinking back on it, I can't remember what it was I wanted, which goes to show me that I probably didn't need it anyway.

I worked on my walker bags that I sell at a local pharmacy.  I used what I had to finish up 10 bags.  I took them up last Thursday and sold them.  They handed me $125 in cash.  Now the rules were that I couldn't spend any money in our household budget for any crafty stuff.  BUT if I sold crafty stuff then I could use that money to buy more.

Immediately I knew I had a workshop coming up which would take at least $30 out of my paycheck.  That left me with $95.  I spent $20 on a new sturdy desk for my craft room. While this is technically not a crafty item, it was purchased for my craft room so I will count it. Now I am left with $75.  Then I spent an additional $21.75 on scrapbook paper. Now I am left with $53.25.  Then I went to a consignment sale and found a bold of awesome fabric to make walker bags with for $7.90.  I bought that. It was 5 yards of upholstery fabric.  I couldn't pass that up. Now I am left with $45.35.  I put that in my pocket for later.  I made a donation to the local library of $5 but I am not counting that. Included in the donation was a bag of books that I could choose from an array of books.  I chose some great novels for myself and my family but also included some crafty books and magazines that were there too.  I am not counting this because I didn't buy the books. It was a donation and the books were a "gift" because of the donation.

I still need some thread and some lining.  I will wait on that for a bit because I don't need it right now.

What I have learned.....

• I am an impulse shopper. (when I see a great sale or a great deal I buy it)
• I am an impulse creator.  I have a terrible habit of seeing a new project on line and want to try it out.  I start the project to see what the pattern looks like, feels like, etc. Then I put it down partly done and go on to the next one.
• I thrive on creativity and I really do need a budget.  I lucked out this month because I could sell some of my items to get a budget for the month. But the reality of it is that I don't sell my walker bags each month.  I sell them once every couple months.  So I can't rely on an $125 monthly budget.  I need to figure something else out. 

Plans for the rest of the month:

• I want to create some things for Easter.
• I want to finish up the knitted blanket that I started. 
• I want to reorganize my yarn stash.  Currently it is in piles and in plastic bins all over my room.

I will post again in a week or so and let you know how I continue to fair.

A No Spend Month

For a few years I have been seeing this trend and I have been trying to wrap my head around how it would work for us. People will choose a month and then declare it a "no spend" month.  They do it for many reasons; save money, learn lessons about their spending, clean out the pantry, test their food/supply storage, or desire to spend more time with family.

The basic premise:
A no spend month is a month where you do not spend any money. It can be as drastic as not spending any money on anything including food, clothing, necessities, and even on gas.  It can be a month where there is no spending money that is not accounted for.  So budgetary items like food and gas can be budgeted and spent during the month, but there has to be a plan.

I have read where families will gather and buy all the items including food that they need for the month prior to the month beginning and then not spending anything during that month.  To me, this just doesn't make any sense.  If I am spending a ton of money before the month begins then how am I accomplishing my goal?

Speaking of which......what IS the goal here?

• saving money?
• figuring out where our money goes?
• looking at impulse buying?
• learning to appreciate what we have?
• stop wanting everything we see?
• learning to have patience?

If we are saving money then how is spending a ton of money prior to the month saving it?  If we are saving money and then using up what we have during the no spend month and then buying a ton of stuff the next month saving it?

Currently, we don't shop much. We don't eat out much. Our food budget is pretty low. We are slowly building up a food storage so we don't need to test that yet.  We have a monthly budget.  Food, gas, bills, etc.  This stays the same most months.  We budget for upcoming things like kids activities, birthdays, holidays, etc.

For our family, we have settled on a happy medium. Part of this decision comes from that fact that we have already been not spending for the past several months anyway. Part of this decision comes from necessity. Most of this decision comes from looking at our spending the past month.  We have spent nickels and dimes in two specific areas that we could take a vacation from this month.

This month (February) we are having a No Spend month for crafty stuff, home decor, and bikes.  Yes, bikes.  My son and husband have a small bike hobby.  Right now they have about 40 bikes that they are working on fixing up and selling them.  It is the middle of winter.  We don't need any more bikes. So this month there is no money for bikes in our budget.  There is also no money in the budget for my hobbies either. A quick look at our checking account shows approximately $260 in spending in these two areas. This does not include when we used cash to pay for items.  My goal is to save approximately $250 this month.

Of course there are rules!
1. No spending any money from our budget on these items.
2. If you sell one of your items you may use that money on purchasing other items from the list.  For example, if my son and husband sell a bike then they can use that money they earned from the sale to purchase another bike.  If I sell something "crafty" then I can use that money to purchase other crafty stuff.

Already two days into this month we have a bit of "jockeying" money to get what we want/need.

I have a scrapbooking workshop that I attend once every other month. When we imposed this spending ban I didn't think about my workshop.  It is next week.  It will cost me a minimum of $30. Luckily, I have a solution.  I make walker bags (tote bags that attach to walkers).  I sell them to a local, neighborhood pharmacy.  They are in need of some more now and I will take up 8 or 10 of them and they will write me a check.  I will use this money to go to my workshop and pay for my supplies.

My son and husband also have a bit of a problem.  They need to fix a bike.  They need an inner tube for it.  They will need to sell a bike to purchase this inner tube to fix this bike.

Did you know that I work at a national chain craft store?  Yes, I do.  This morning I was working and one of my jobs was to price all the clearance items.  Some of them were strings of beads.  They were on clearance for only $0.49! I was dying because it was a great price and I couldn't buy them, because we are on this no spend month. Sigh......I have to look on the bright side.  I saved some money today, right?

This month might be harder than we expect!Off to go make some more walker bags! :)